The eagerly-anticipated transformation of Jane De Leon as the new Darna has finally happened last Friday, August 19, capping off the pilot week of the ABS-CBN series that also saw the death of Leonor (Iza Calzado), the first Darna.
The #LipadDarna episode revealed how the white mythical stone found its way back to Narda—now an emergency medical technician—during a rescue mission caused by an earthquake in Nueva Esperanza.
Despite having qualms about fully embracing her destiny as a superhero, Narda bravely swallowed the stone, triggering her Darna alter ego and saving those who were trapped in the quake’s rubble.
The momentous scene shot up the hashtag #LipadDarna atop the local Twitter trend list and at the second spot in the worldwide list, with netizens primarily praising Jane’s performance, the costume, and visual effects.
After the episode, JRB Creative Production also released the official poster of the series, which shows Jane in a fierce battle stance while fully clad in her red and gold Darna ensemble that also earned positive feedback online for its high quality.
During Monday’s episode, viewers were introduced to the mysterious characters of Javier Toledo or Lindol Man (Dominic Ochoa) and Master Klaudio (Joko Diaz), who helped Ding from men trying to attack him. Will they be friends or foes to him and Narda?
Meanwhile, Regina (Janella Salvador) and Brian’s (Joshua Garcia) alliance in trying to expose the corruption of Mayor Zaldy Vallesteros (Simon Ibarra) continues after they found out that Toledo was the chief engineer of the collapsed building during the quake.
Mars Ravelo’s Darna airs weekdays, 8:00 p.m. on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, CineMo, and TV5. It is also available to watch via Kapamilya Online Live, iWantTFC, and The Filipino Channel.